Creator content isn’t an experimental area for advertisers anymore. It’s an established, full-funnel channel that can deliver measurable results. Why is the channel so important right now?

TikTok users are spending half of their time watching videos that are 1 minute in length or longer, according to The Information.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Snapchat+ is getting on, how much of a focus AR will be for the company going forward, and why user growth is doing just fine ... but revenue growth is not. "In Other News," we talk about the differences between the terms "influencer" and "creator" and what to make of LinkedIn's significant 1-billionth-member milestone. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Creator platforms like YouTube have started folding generative AI tools into their products. That means creators and marketers could be using generative AI tools without even realizing it. Advertisers on YouTube have already been taking advantage of AI through recommendations, optimization tools, and other ad solutions, said Tara Walpert Levy, vice president of Americas at YouTube, speaking at Advertising Week New York 2023.

E.l.f. Beauty’s “Make up over Makeup” campaign, which launched in May, was a departure from what many think of as creator marketing. The campaign brought creators Chris Olsen, who boasts 12.1 million followers on TikTok, and Ian Paget, who has 2.5 million followers on TikTok, together after their high-profile breakup for a conversation and makeover.

Next year, US influencer marketing spend will hit $5.89 billion, and 82.7% of marketers will use influencer marketing, according to our forecasts. While that figure still pales in comparison to the $75.08 billion going to social network ad spend, influencer marketing is growing at a faster rate.

US Influencer marketing spending will pass $2 billion on Instagram in 2024, while spending on TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook will each pass $1 billion, per our forecast.

Key stat: US influencer marketing spend will grow more than three times faster than social ad spend in 2023, and it will remain ahead through 2025, according to our forecast.

Key stat: Nearly 60% of TikTok viewers are more likely to trust a brand after hearing about it from a creator compared with hearing about it from a standard, in-feed ad, said Sam Kimmel, global creator partnerships lead at TikTok, during a CreatorIQ webinar.

Key stat: $6.19 billion (9.0% of US social media ad spend) will go to TikTok this year, according to our forecast. Marketers need to make sure they’re putting their TikTok budget to good use by choosing the right ad types for the right activations. Here’s an overview of in-feed versus Spark Ads on TikTok.

This year, TikTok will ride the social video wave to become the third social platform with more than 100 million users in the US. But text-based platforms are also set for a revival thanks to Instagram Threads, Bluesky, and even Meta’s Messenger.

Reels and Shorts are gaining users and adding ad options. They still lag TikTok in several key areas, but now is the time for video advertisers to give them another look.

VC funding for creator-focused startups has plummeted in the US, even as these startups multiply. Last year, funding dropped by 51% YoY, while the number of creator-related startups increased by 550%, per The Information. This is part of a greater trend of cooling VC investment.

As the ad revenue shortfall deepens, social media’s legacy players face new competition for users, a complicated situation with creators, and a social commerce rewind.

Creators and influencers are looking for ways to diversify platforms in order to increase audience outreach, foster community, and assure they’re not at the whims of any single social media algorithm.

Across the board, links in creator bios are the most popular form of TikTok creator marketing. Duets and stitches, where creator content and brand content are joined in the same video, are also popular among mid-size businesses. This type of content, which is relatively inexpensive but requires original content in addition to creator content, ranks lower with small and large businesses.

TikTok’s influencer marketing takeover is nothing short of astounding. In 2019, the app accounted for 2.3% of US spending on creator campaigns. This year, TikTok’s share will reach 15.5%, beating Facebook’s 14.8%. Instagram will remain on top with 44.7%.

Brands working with influencers are focused on generating interactions and leads. More than 60% of US social media marketers partner with creators primarily to foster engagement, and roughly the same share do so to reach new audiences.

Content creators offer brands the opportunity to advertise in an inexpensive, targeted, and authentic way on social media. In order to focus on authenticity, US social media marketers are most inclined to hire creators for educational content, testimonials, and product unboxings, which allow followers to learn and discover alongside their favorite influencers.

For many content creators, Instagram isn’t everything. In the US, 41.0% of creators run websites or blogs to reach their audiences outside of social media. Newsletters and podcasts are also tools they use to staying connected. But perhaps most notably, 43.3% do not use anything other than social platforms.